Gundam SEED: A Soldier's Will
by Navek
Summary: AU. It's been almost a year since Veronica's squad was slaughtered at Nova. The surviving members have been stationed at Artemis, their daily routine consisting of tests and mobile suit evaluations. But that mundanity is shattered when they receive word that Heliopolis was attacked. Now, a disgraced ace squadron will return to end the Earthsphere War once and for all.
1. Prelude

_By the time the Allies had rolled out their first line of mobile suits, the Earthsphere War had been raging for almost a full year. But in the dawn of the second year, the ZAFT forces soon had a new threat to contend with; the First Allied Mobile Suit Squadron. They called themselves Mjolnir, after the legendary weapon used by Thor. And like Mjolnir, they would break ZAFT for their crimes against the people of the Earthsphere._

 _Their commanding officer was Captain Katiana Pravda, a veteran of several air battles in not only the ES War but several small-scale battles before the war. She was the first pilot that brought out the full potential of the NMS-063 Minuteman. The first Allied pilot to be granted the title of ace due to her part in the battle of Yggdrasil._

 _Under Pravda's command, Mjolnir Squadron proved to be a bane to ZAFT's space forces, their Minuteman Astros easily being on par with ZAFT's GINN and CGUE mobile suits. The enemy even gave Pravda a name out of fear; The Emerald Valkyrie, as the sight of her emerald mobile suit would usually lead to massive casualties on their side._

 _However, this is not Katiana's story. This is our story. Mu La Flaga, Gaius Ismail, Kira Yamato, Flay Allister, Takashi Ikari, Mikeva Solum, Gail Rodriguez, Erika Hawkins, and myself. This how we survived._

 _ **August 15th, C.E. 72…**_

'Shit!' Ensign Veronica Hendrickson cursed as she maneuvered her mobile suit to evade machine gun fire from an approaching GINN. As soon as the one-eyed MS was in her sight, she pulled the trigger, blasting the cockpit with her Minuteman Astro's Machine Gun.

A small victory in what was becoming a losing battle. For the past month, the combined forces of ZAFT's 3rd, 8th, and 12th Space Fleets had been attacking the Allies-controlled Nova base in a series of raids. And the defense fleet stationed there (including her squad) was tired, so very tired of fighting.

" _Mjolnir 4, 7, and 10! Commence bombing run on the seven o'clock Laurasia-Class!"_ Their squad commander ordered. Her voice was an anchor for the soldiers as ships and mobile weapons fought all around them.

" _Roger that!"_ Mjolnir 10 replied.

" _Loud and clear!"_ Mjolnir 4 chimed in.

"Copy!" Veronica replied as she blasted down towards her target, her wingsmate's Soldat's flanking her.

" _I got the bridge in sight."_ Mjolnir 4 stated, aiming her 6-Tube Missile Launchers at the ship's bridge. " _Firing!"_

" _Same!"_ Mjolnir 7 replied, aiming his Rocket Launcher.

"Let's blow them the fuck up!" Veronica replied. The three blasting the bridge apart in a barrage of rockets and bullets, leaving the ship to flounder without a bridge crew to guide it. But before they could celebrate, their alarms blared and saw a nearby Drake-Class bridge getting blown up by a broad orange beam.

"Oh crap!" Veronica cried out as her alarms blared. On her screen, she saw an approaching mobile weapon and instantly froze when she saw it.

A dark purple machine that dwarfed any mobile suit and shared the same singular eye as ZAFT's mobile suits. This machine was responsible for sinking four Nelson-class ships single-handedly during the last month alongside over thirty Moebius IIs and ten Minutemen. And it was blasting towards them at speeds far exceeding any mobile suit.

" _That's the bastard who killed Luke!"_ Mjolnir 7 proclaimed as he blasted ahead, unloading an entire clip of rockets at the mobile armor. The purple mobile armor retaliated with eight missiles from the eight tubes on its body. The projectiles met in a massive explosion, obscuring the mobile armor from Mjolnir 7's sights. Suddenly, the mobile armor fired an orange beam through the cloud, vaporizing the Minuteman Astro and its pilot.

" _YOU COLONIST FUCK!"_ Mjolnir 4 screamed in righteous anger as she unloaded her missiles at the one-eyed mobile armor. But, true its reputation, the purple mobile armor effortlessly shot the missiles down with its claw guns. It blasted towards Mjolnir 4, elegantly evading the barrage of machine gun fire and CIWS before grabbing the Minuteman. It tore the mobile suit in half, killing the pilot, her last scream never reaching her lips.

"Helena…" Veronica whimpered before the purple mobile armor set its single eye on her. However, her salvation came in a barrage of bullets that forced the mobile armor to evade. Sure enough, another Minuteman Astro armed with a 5-barrel Gatling Gun appeared, Mjolnir Squad's insignia on its right shoulder.

" _Get it together, Mjolnir 10."_ The calm voice of Katiana Pravda spoke over the comms as her mobile suit replaced its clip. " _The Galero is under fire by a flight of GINNs. I need you on your A-Game and keep that ship from sinking."_

"But... the mobile armor..."

" _Don't worry. I'll take care of that overgrown clunker."_

"But captain... that thing... it's a monster." The younger woman stated as her screen displayed the mobile armor vaporizing a flight of Moebius IIs.

" _No, it's a mobile weapon."_ The Emerald Valkyrie stated, determination evident in her voice. " _Listen closely, Veronica. If there's one thing I've learned in this war, it's this; a mobile weapon is useless without the right pilot."_

And with that, the Minuteman Astro blasted towards the enemy mobile armor; her Gatling gun letting loose a storm of metal. The purple armor evaded the bulletstorm before turning and opening its front, revealing a giant circular beam cannon. The monstrous machine unleashed the orange stream of death, but with the skill honed through years of combat, Pravda spun and evaded the blast with only the half of her right shield being melted. It then fired another round of bullets, this time hitting paydirt and shredding the mobile armors' left claw to shreds.

Inspired by her captain's display, Veronica ironed her resolve and blasted to her destination. As she approached the Galero, she aimed her machine gun at the nearest GINN and fired, shredding the suit and killing the pilot. Another GINN attempted to attack with its sword, but Veronica managed to block the attack with her shield before kicking it right into the path of Galero's beam cannons.

For the next minutes, Veronica joined a squad of Minuteman Astros and Moebius II's in defending the Galero from any mobile suit that attempted to sink it. And for a moment, she felt reassured, that they would turn this battle around and drive ZAFT back. But that all came crashing down as her onboard computer beeped. She looked and read something that shattered any sense of hope she had.

Katiana's IFF was terminated.

A few minutes later, command gave the order for all Allied Forces to retreat, realizing that Nova was a lost cause.

And so, the Allied Forces were dealt a substantial loss that day. Hundreds of their brothers and sisters had been killed. And Katiana Pravda was one of the many. A shining star that violently flickered before being snuffed out.

 _ **Year 70 of the Cosmic Era. Tensions were mounting between the nations of Earth and the ZAFT Organization. Due to the Bloody Valentine Tragedy and the April Fools Crisis, these tensions suddenly escalated into a full-scale war. It seemed a foregone conclusion that the Allied Forces, with their superior numbers, would be victorious. But these initial assessments proved to be false. Almost four years have passed since the conflict began, with seemingly no end in sight.**_

 _ **Navek presents**_

 _ **A Gundam SEED fanfic**_

 _ **A Soldier's Will**_

 **Author's Note: They say you never forget your first love. And while that usually refers to romance or sex, I've recently learned that it can have another meaning.**

 **Those who have followed me since the beginning of my profile know that wrote a story called Gundam SEED: Tales of Mjolnir. It was my first foray into Gundam fanfiction, and I remember having a tone of fun writing it. However, I soon ran into some major problems with that story.**

 **The cast was oversaturated. The plot was idiotically simplistic and flawed. And my interest in Gundam waned a bit as I moved onto other stories.**

 **But recently, I watched the ONA series Gundam Thunderbolt. And like just like a bolt of lightning, my love for the Gundam series was sparked once more.**

 **Since working on the Fairy Mythos Series and meeting xpegasus, I believe I've grown as a writer and that I'm more than ready to write a Gundam fanfic that lives up to the franchise. More than that, I'm going to make my own unique mark on Gundam SEED fanfiction. And it starts with this declaration;**

 **Don't expect to see any Newtypes or SEED factors in this story. Because this is not the Cosmic Era you know.**

 **See ya next time!**


	2. Phase 1: Back in the Saddle

**Author's Note 1: Gundam SEED: A Soldier's Will is a non-profit fanfiction series.**

 **Mobile Suit Gundam is owned by Sunrise, Bandai, and Yoshiyuki Tomino.**

 **Any original characters and concepts are owned by Navek and xpegasus.**

 **Please support the official release.**

 _Phase 1: Back in the Saddle_

 _ **April 26th, CE 73...**_

"-nie, Ronnie. Ronnie!"

A brown-skinned woman was woken up by shouting and the sound of someone banging on her door. She opened her amber eyes and saw that her room the same as it always was.

"Christ's sake." She whispered before speaking up. "I heard ya the first time, Erika! Calm the fuck down."

"Oh, don't even try that 'I was already awake' BS," Erika replied from behind the door. "Gundam testing starts in 20 minutes, and you know how anal Commander Garcia is about all three of us being present."

"Ya, ya," The brown-haired woman said as she got out of bed. "Just give me a few minutes to freshen up."

As she changed into her uniform, Veronica looked over to the photo hanging on her wall. It had been taken just two years ago, but it felt like a lifetime. She had joined the NATO ground forces just before the war began and Allied Forces were formed. After a few months of fighting GINNs, Veronica had been among the hundreds of selected candidates for SMRI's mobile suit project.

As it turned out, Veronica had a natural aptitude for mobile suit combat and had been selected to join the First Allied MS Squadron. Soon after the roster had been finalized, the assembled squad of twelve pilots took a picture to commemorate the occasion. And as she looked at the picture, she was once more hit by same grim reality; of the twelve men and women in that picture, only three of them were still alive.

But there was no more for that, as Veronica finished putting on her uniform, running her hand over the black hammer insignia on the left breast pocket, and her 'professional' face. After fixing up her shoulder-length brown hair, she exited her room, seeing her fellow MS pilot waiting outside, playing on a retro handheld game as she waited.

While they tended to give each other shit at times, Erika Hawkins was someone Veronica would trust with her life. The dirty-blonde brit had a bit of a tongue on her, but she was one hell of a pilot. The fact that she was part of Mjolnir Squad was a testament to that, the same black hammer insignia stitched onto her pocket.

"Did ya get enough beauty sleep?" Erika joked as she pocketed her game. Veronica smirked at her friend's remark.

"You could use some." The brown-haired woman retorted as the two women headed towards the MS Hangar, taking the path that was pretty much chiseled into their memories at this point.

For the past eight months, Veronica, Erika, and their squadmate Gail had called Artemis Base their home. Stationed at Lagrange 3, Artemis was considered by many to one of the biggest waste of military resources. It's location held no strategic value whatsoever, meaning the Allies couldn't launch a sneak attack on ZAFT without them knowing about it, and vice versa.

The only outstanding feature about the base was the ground-breaking Lightwave Barrier known as the Umbrella of Artemis. Whenever that barrier was active, the base was protected from both physical ordinance and beam weaponry. Theoretically, the only thing that might be able to take down the barrier was a nuclear explosion, which was highly unlikely since ZAFT pretty much took all nuclear options out of the war with their N-Jammers.

As they were walking towards the MS Hangar, Erika noticed her friend had a far-off look in her eyes.

"Something on your mind, Ronnie?" The British woman asked.

"You could tell?" Veronica said before saying what she was thinking. "It's been almost two years since we left Earth. I guess...I guess just miss it a bit."

"I hear ya," Erika replied. "Zero-G is cool and all, but I kinda miss natural gravity." The dirty blonde said before she shrugged. "But hey, what can ya do?"

After a few more minutes of walking, the two women arrived at the MS Hanger. The hanger was built to house a total of fifty mobile suits and mobile armors. Currently, it held thirty Moebius IIs, three Moebius 0s, ten Minuteman Astros, and four Minuteman Astro Cannons (or MACs as some pilots called them.) The last three units were the newest mobile suits, the NMS-064A Astro Gundams.

The Astro Gundams were part of the G-Project, a new AF initiative with two goals; create mobile suits capable using beam weapons and create beam weapons that can be used by their existing mobile weapons. Artemis was chosen to be the testing ground for the first Astro Gundams units due to its seemingly useless nature.

From what Veronica understood, the Gundam series was intended to be a successor to the Minuteman series. The mobile suits even had a similar production history; first, the baseline model was manufactured before giving way to environment-specific variants. And like its predecessor, the top brass was looking to make the Gundams their next mainline mobile suit. But before they could decide that, they needed to be sure the new models were combat capable.

The first person to notice Veronica and Erika entering the hangar was a Hispanic man with light brown hair in a ponytail and blue eyes. Like the two women, he also wore a black hammer patch on his white uniform. Currently, he was reading an old 21st-century comic book before noticing his squadmates

"Lieutenants on deck!" Gail Rodriguez said with a smile and a salute.

The other pilots and engineers saluted as well, with Erika and Veronica doing the same.

"At ease." The brunette lieutenant replied before walking towards one of the engineers. This particular engineer was a Hispanic man about their age with green eyes and frizzy brown hair and matching goatee. He had arrived around the same time Artemis began construction of the Gundams. This was the head of the SMRI's 'Ritter' Team and the Gundam's creator, Lukas Marti. And as usual, he was busy re-calibrating the Gundam's Operating System with his laptop, he hadn't even stood up to salute when the others did.

"Don't you ever sleep, Marti?" Veronica asked as she looked up at the Gundam units. The black-haired ace had to admit that at least in terms of appearance, the Gundams looked far more formidable than the Minutemen. Their twin eye sensors and mouth vents gave them a much more humanoid appearance.

"I do; I just don't need much of it," Lukas responded. "And besides, without a functional operating system, a mobile suit can barely stand, let alone shoot."

"Ya, ya," The brown-skinned woman replied. "Hey, I've been to ask you something."

"If it's about the Beam Javelin, it should be ready for testing by next Tuesday."

"No, not that. I was just wondering about the name."

This got Lukas' attention as he stopped typing and looked up with a sigh. "What's wrong with the name?"

"Nothing. I was just wondering where you got the name Gundam from."

"Oh! Well in that case…" The Hispanic man replied before standing up. After some more typing, he turned it towards Veronica. The screen showed the six words.

 **General**

 **Unilateral**

 **Neuro-link**

 **Dispersive**

 **Automatic**

 **Maneuver**

"The operating system?" Veronica asked, recognizing it from the many times she activated the Astro Gundam. Lukas nodded before elaborating.

"Combine the first letter in each word and you get Gundam. And trust me, it's better than any of the other names that were tossed around."

As the two continued to chat, Erika and Gail watched on, the two sharing some canned coffee.

"100 pounds says their boinkin' when we're not looking," Erika said with a knowing smirk.

"Oh, come on, Erika. You and I both know Ronnie's got a thing for pilots." Gail retorted.

"And what's your proof on that?"

"Well…" The ponytailed man said, before looking around and whispering. Erika listened in, her eyes widening from what she heard.

"You're full of shit."

"But I had you going for a second, didn't I?" Gail asked with a jokester smile.

"What're you guys talking about?" Veronica asked as she joined her friends.

"Gail said you shagged Mu La Flaga after the Battle of Yggdrasil," Erika said bluntly. Veronica's only response was to sigh and look at her friend with a disappointed look.

"Really, Gail?"

"Hey, hey, just making conversation." The lone male of the trio said, the conversation eventually moving onto the various weapons they had tested. But after talking for awhile, the three former members of Mjolnir Squad noticed at Commander Garcia was almost ten minutes late. Hell, not even his second-in-command Jacob Hall had arrived yet. However, the pilot didn't have to wait long for an answer.

" _All personnel, report to the war room. This is not a drill. I repeat; All personnel, report to the war room."_

The three experienced pilots shared a look. Whenever Hall had everyone gather in the war room, that usually meant that Artemis was believed to be in danger. For the last eight months, that usually meant a pirate raid or the occasionally braver ZAFT units. Thanks to the long-range USV drones, the base personnel tended to have ample prep time for any combat situation.

"50 pounds says its a pirate raid," Erika said as everyone headed to the war room.

"I got 80 on a bunch of ZAFT rookies." Gail chimed in.

"Same," Veronica stated.

A few minutes later, the entirety of the base crew was assembled in the war room, Commander Garcia standing near the front and the lanky, bespectacled, and red-haired Captain Hall standing next to him.

"Thank you for your timely gathering," Garcia stated, straight-laced as ever. "I'll get straight to the point; the G-Project has been compromised."

"How compromised are we talkin'?" A brown-skinned woman with short dark red hair and orange eyes asked.

"Heliopolis has been destroyed." The portly commander stated, shocking all the personnel before Hall used his remote to activate the computer screen. "At approximately 1400 hours, a ZAFT assault team infiltrated the colony. Their targets were the prototype GAT series mobile suits made by Morgenroete."

"But...Heliopolis is Orb Union territory. It's goddamn neutral ground!" A young Asian man with short black hair and blue eyes shouted.

"Do we know what team was behind the attack?" Veronica asked, her expression neutral even though she was internally boiling.

"Our Man on the Inside confirmed it was the Le Creuset team," Hall answered, causing some of the more experienced personnel to whisper among themselves.

"So the White Demon's moved up to a command position," Gail whispered.

"Probably explains why they had no problem attacking a civilian colony," Erika replied with clenched fists.

"We've confirmed that the Le Creuset have succeeded in stealing four of the five prototypes." Garcia continued as the screen showed schematics for each of them. "The X-102 Duel, X-103 Buster, X-207 Blitz and X-303 Aegis."

"So our side still has one unit." Lukas chimed in.

"Correct; the X-105 Strike." The base commander replied. "We've also confirmed that the new assault carrier, Archangel, survived the attack and destroyed two of the Le Creuset's mobile suits. The Strike destroyed three more while Lieutenant La Flaga destroyed the fifth GINN and severely crippled Le Creuset's CGUE. Unfortunately, the exchanging fire destroyed Heliopolis' support pillars, causing the colony to break apart."

"Jesus," Erika stated.

"During the attack, the Heliopolis Militia and La Flaga's squadron were wiped out during the initial assault. Adding onto that, the pilot of the Strike brought a derelict civilian escape pod onboard the Archangel after the collapse." Hall continued as the screen switched to a map of the destroyed colony and the space around it. The map showed the Archangel housed in the ruins of the colony while two IFFs representing the ZAFT warships kept their distance in order to avoid the debris. "As it stands, the Archangel is currently within the debris caused by Heliopolis' destruction. With their mobile suits destroyed and disabled, it would take the ZAFT ships approximately five hours to clear the debris with their onboard weapons."

Veronica thought about the situation as it was presented before she realized something. "Actually, they probably have even less than that."

"Care to elaborate, Lieutenant Hendrickson?" Garcia asked.

"You said that the enemy is out of mobile suits, but that's wrong." The brown-skinned pilot stated. "By my count, they have four to spare."

And a wave of realization hit everyone.

"The stolen GATs!" Erika surmised.

"Wait, wouldn't it be a big risk to rely on stolen prototypes?" A rookie pilot asked.

"Actually, it's not outside the realm of possibility," Hall responded. "Intel reports that the enemy deployed the Aegis during their attempt to sink the Archangel. And considering the extreme measures they used to obtain the prototypes, attacking with stolen weaponry is a definite possibility."

"So what do we do?" Gail asked.

"That all depends on what course action the Archangel's crew decides to take," Garcia said as the screen switched showing two possible routes. "The way we see it, the Archangel has two possible paths it can take. The first would be blasting through the debris and attempting the long run around the sun to Lunar HQ. The second would lead them to us."

"Considering the distance between Heliopolis and the moon, it would take the Archangel nearly two weeks to reach it at full speed. But that's with full supplies and assuming that the Le Creuset team won't try another assault, which is highly unlikely." Hall stated. "Therefore, the more risky but faster solution would have them fly towards our base."

"But they'll be left wide open to a possible attack if they head towards us." Veronica chimed in. "And even with the Archangel's firepower, all they have to defend themselves are La Flaga's Zero and the Strike against the four stolen prototypes and two warships."

"That's why I want all pilots on standby in your mobile weapons. As soon as the Archangel makes its next move, we'll give you the go ahead. However, you are not to deploy the Gundams. We already lost four new mobile suits today; the last thing we need is another three." Garcia said. "All of you will also be sent a copy of the intel to prepare yourselves for the possible fight. All personnel, to your posts."

"Yes, Commander!" Everyone saluted before heading out of the room. Almost half an hour later, Veronica, Erika, and Lukas were dressed in their dark purple pilot suits, their hammer emblems now on the top sides of their helmets. And like nearly all Allied Forces pilots, a flag patch representing their country of birth was stitched on their left shoulder. Veronica and Gail had the American Flag, while Erika had a Union Jack. While they were waiting for deployment, they looked over the specs for the stolen G-Weapons. As they did so, Veronica couldn't help but noticed that the GAT series had a resemblance to the Gundams (albeit with additional horn-shaped sensors on their foreheads), which actually made sense considering they were two parts of the same project.

"Geez, I thought the bulletproof armor thing was a load of bullshit." Gail said as he read up on the GAT series signature feature; Phase Shift Armor. According to the intel, it was a thin layer of constantly active electrons that repels all physical weapons such as bullets and melee weapons. It also had the effect of changing the color of the mobile suit.

"Apparently not," Veronica stated.

"So if they do decide to use the stolen Gs, we're gonna be up against two warships and four bulletproof mobile suits," Erika grumbled. "And aside from us, most the rooks here have never fought anything tougher than a Moebius I or patchwork MS."

And that brought a pit to Veronica's stomach. She looked down and saw some of the rookies chatting amongst each other. From what she could hear, a few of them were excited to finally have a 'real' battle. For a moment, she was reminded of her first deployment against ZAFT's ground forces...and how the harsh reality of war smacked her in the face.

 _ **An hour later…**_

" _Attention all base personnel; the Archangel has left the debris and is heading towards Artemis!"_ Hall announced over the speakers. " _Mobile Weapon teams, standby for launch!"_

"You heard the man, rooks!" Erika shouted as she, Gail, and Veronica headed for their Minuteman Astros. However, Veronica still couldn't help but feel a tad nervous as she took a seat in her old mobile suit's cockpit. After all, it had been more than half a year since she had flown against ZAFT. Subconsciously, she feared that her skills had gotten rusty. But she then remembered one of Katiana's most important lessons.

" _If you're already picturing the worst scenario, then you've lost the battle before it's begun."_

After the pilots had entered their mobile weapons, the auto-arms carried them towards the two linear catapults. Their deployment roster consisted of six Moebius IIs, the four MACs, and five Minuteman Astros. It was standard base defense protocol for most Allied Forces militaries; when deployed against a far-off enemy with questionable numbers, only around fifteen units would be deployed to determine the enemies fighting strength. The rest would stay at the base in case of a sneak attack.

" _Pilots, your mission is to protect the Archangel until it arrives within Artemis space."_ Commander Garcia said as Veronica's Minuteman Astro was being equipped via the docking arms. As per usual, her armament consisted of two 90mm Machine Guns and a shield held by each Sub-Arm.

" _Sinking the ZAFT ships is optional, but encouraged. And if you run into the stolen GATs, remember that the Phase Shift Armor will drain after continual bombardment."_

The brown-haired lieutenant took a breath as the catapult doors opened, revealing the vacuum of space.

" _Switching timing of linear catapult to pilot."_

"I have control," Veronica replied, having said that line more times than she could count. Steeling herself, the amber-eyed lieutenant grabbed hold of her mobile suits thruster controls. "Veronica Hendrickson, Minuteman Astro, Launching!"

With the pull of a trigger, the green & silver mobile suit was launched ahead at top speed. And as soon as it started to lose momentum from the launch, Veronica activated her Astro's thrusters, escaping Artemis Base's gravitational pull and blasting her towards the battlefield. Soon enough, she was joined by the other fourteen mobile weapons sent to aid their comrades. The Recon USVs also showed them info about the position of each ship and mobile weapon, showing that the Duel and Aegis were double-teaming the Strike while the Blitz and Buster were attacking the Archangel.

" _Looks like the Nazca and Laurasia are going for a pincer attack,"_ Gail commented on the position of each warship. His Astro's hand-held armament consisted of a 6-Tube Missile Launcher and a 90mm Machine Gun.

" _But they're letting the stolen GATs go in first,"_ Erika commented, her armament being a 135mm Anti-Ship Rifle. " _The fuckers. So how do you wanna play this, Ronnie?"_

While her piloting skills went a tad lax during her stay, Veronica usually spent her time studying military strategies. Erika and Gail were well aware of the fact.

"It looks like Lt. Commander La Flaga is going to attempt a solo run on the Nazca-class judging by his trajectory."

" _Definitely a Fleet Hopper,"_ Gail commented with a smirk.

" _Um...Fleet Hopper, sir?"_ Ensign Ikari (the Asian man from earlier) asked.

" _I'll explain after the fight."_

"MAC team, I want you to assist La Flaga in his bombing run. This could be our chance to kill Le Creuset." Veronica ordered, praying that they could finally kill the infamous ZAFT ace. "It looks like he's going to attack from below, so you'll perform a pincer maneuver and attack the Nazca from behind."

" _Roger!"_ The four pilots replied before their artillery mobile suits broke from the pack.

"Moebius team, you'll perform another bombing run on the Laurasia. The Astro team will assist the Strike and Archangel in repelling the stolen G-Weapons."

" _But Lieutenant, won't the G-Weapons just try to shoot us down?"_ Ensign Lago asked.

" _Oh, you just leave the covering fire to me and Nicky,"_ Erika said with a smirk, Veronica having a slight laugh since she knew her friend was referring to her Anti-Ship rifle.

"This is gonna be a hit-and-run. As soon you make one sweep of the Laurasia, return to Artemis to re-supply."

" _Copy!"_

"Alright, then," Veronica said before cracking her neck. "Let's show the Zafties what we're made of!"

As soon as the Archangel and the G-Weapons were in sight, Erika hung back while her squadmates launched ahead. In the cockpit of her Astro, she brought down the long-range targeting sensor and aimed, catching the blue & grey mobile suit known as the Duel in her sights.

"Alright, Nicky." The dirty blonde said with a savage smile. "What do ya say we give the GATs a little stress test?"

Now there were three reasons why the 135mm Anti-Ship Rifle was a weapon only used by AF space mobile suits. 1). The rifle was so big that it would be a major hindrance under gravity's influence. 2). It required both of the mobile suit's hands to be used properly. And 3). The insane recoil created by firing just a single round would knock a ground mobile suit on its ass.

At the same time, the Duel's current pilot, Yzak Joule, was feeling frustrated at the moment for several reasons. His teammates, Dearka and Nicol, were having a harder time sinking the 'Legged Ship' (ZAFT's name for the Archangel) than expected due to its top-of-the-line armament and surprising maneuverability. His other teammate, Athrun, seemed to be holding back against the Strike for reasons he honestly didn't care to figure out right now.

Speaking of the Strike, the blue & white mobile suit kept dodging his attacks. Yzak figured that the pilot was either even more of a rookie than he was or just fucking with him. At the moment, he didn't care which as he aimed his beam rifle at the Strike once more.

But suddenly, all the warning alarms in his cockpit blared before something hit him with enough force to nearly give him whiplash if he wasn't strapped in. The silver-haired youth groaned and saw that his mobile suit's battery was now at 48%, the Phase Shift Armor having used a massive amount of energy to repel the attack.

"What the fuck hit me?!" Yzak shouted before his radar detected ten enemy IFFs approaching their location. Six Moebius IIs blasted right past the G-Weapons and the Archangel with the four Minuteman Astros separating to battle the ZAFT-controlled mobile suits.

Dearka attempted to aim the Buster's guns at the mobile armors, but one of the Astros stopped him with a barrage of Hyper Bazooka rounds. Gail and the other Astro decided to attack the Blitz while Veronica kicked the Aegis back.

"Strike, we're here to back you up," Veronica said as she unleashed a bullet barrage on the Aegis.

" _...Roger."_ The Strike's pilot responded. Judging by his voice, the ace surmised that he was probably younger than her and her fellow Mjolnir survivors.

 _ **ZFS-Vesalius…**_

"Looks like the Artemis staff got a tad jumpy." Rau Le Creuset stated. The infamous white coat was sitting in the Co-Captain's chair since his CGUE was almost vaporized during his last sortie. He pressed a button on his armrest, showing an image of a blond-haired, brown-eyed green coat sitting in a cockpit. "Miguel, how soon can you launch?"

" _The crews just need another three minutes to finish attaching the Pardus."_ The young pilot stated. " _We just gotta hope that Athrun and the others can hold out until then."_

"Captain!" A radar operator shouted. "We got four enemy IFFs coming in stern side!"

"Silhouettes matched. NMS-064AC. They're Astro Cannons."

"Arm the CIWS and main cannons!" Adas, Captain of the Vesalius ordered. "Full 360-degree turn!"

"Roger!" The helmsman replied as he turned the control wheel of the ship, causing the blue warship to begin turning.

"Miguel, launch ASAP," Rau ordered.

" _Copy that, sir!"_

From lower orbit, Mu La Flaga watched the Nazca-class ship change direction. A few minutes earlier, he received an encrypted message about reinforcements from Artemis joining him for his attack. He figured that they must've detected the oncoming MACs. However, the Hawk of Endymion wasn't too worried. Given the number of mobile suits their side had managed to destroy or damage and the amount of space each warship had, it was assumed that they had no more mobile suits to deploy, so the MACs just needed to worry about the ships' weaponry.

'Now's my chance!' The blond ace thought to himself before blasting up towards the enemy ship. As he did so, he noticed the Vesalius' linear catapult opening and a GINN launching towards the MACs. But this was no ordinary GINN, as La Flaga instantly recognized the orange paint job and skull & crossbones crest.

"MAC team, begin bombardment now!"

" _Commander La Flaga? Is that…"_

"There's no time! That's not any ordinary pilot that just launched! It's the goddamn Magic Bullet of Dusk!"

" _Oh shit!"_ One of the MAC pilots shouted, instantly recognizing the nickname given to one of ZAFT's newer ace pilots. He quickly aimed his 240mm Cannon and fired at the orange MS, his squadmates doing the same. But this proved a fruitless effort as the GINN evaded the explosive shells at twice the speed of an average GINN.

As he began to close the gap, Miguel aimed and fired a barrage from his leg-mounted missile launchers. The three warheads hit paydirt, destroying the lead MAC in an inferno.

" _Enrico!"_ One of the MAC pilots cried out. However, he didn't have long to mourn as Miguel took advantage of their formation breaking. He pulled out his Heat Sword and blasted forward, stabbing the MAC through the cockpit, instantly killing the pilot.

" _This guy's a fucking demon!"_ One of the two remaining MAC pilots shouted as he and his squadmate blasted away, hoping to keep their distance as they opened fire with all weapons, forcing the orange MS to evade the barrage of explosive shells and bullets.

Inside his cobalt mobile armor, Mu groaned as he knew he had two choices. Continue with his original plan to rush to the Nazca and potentially kill his arch-enemy once and for all. Or save the MAC pilots who were clearly outmatched against a ZAFT ace. And in the end, his conscience won over.

Quickly using his Zero's verniers to change course, the Hawk of Endymion launched towards his new target. The Vesalius detected the mobile armor's flight path as it entered its detection range.

" _Miguel, incoming mobile armor at 9 o'clock!"_ Rau warned over the coms. " _It's La Flaga!"_

" _I read ya loud and clear!"_ The blond ace replied as he closed in on the second-to-last MAC and shot up its cockpit area with his machine gun. His alarms blared and the Magic Bullet evaded the oncoming barrage from the Zero's Linear Cannon. The blue mobile armor unleashed its signature weapon; the four wired-guided Gunbarrels.

The Gunbarrels quickly surrounded Miguel from all sides and opened fire, forcing the orange ace to evade once more as Mu positioned the Zero's main body in front of the last MAC.

"MAC pilot, are you alright?"

" _...They...they're dead."_ Ensign Ikari cried out. The blond ace recognized that tone all too well; the sound of a rookie having witnessed the death of squadmates. " _Oh god!"_

"Listen, kid! The battlefield is no place to mourn! You can do that when all this is over. Right now, I need you to focus and follow my lead. Understood?"

" _...Roger that."_ The pilot replied, barely managing to reel his sorrow and shock in.

"Good. We're retreating to the Archangel, so just follow me!"

The Moebius Zero quickly blasted on a path past the Vesalius with the MAC following after him.

"Oh no, you don't!" Miguel shouted, ready to pursue them.

" _Wait!"_ Rau suddenly exclaimed. " _You have new orders, Miguel."_

"What is it?!"

" _We're going to retreat."_

"Are you shitting me?!"

" _Given the units at play, we're at a significant disadvantage, even with you on the field."_ The masked man stated. " _The Astro team engaging Athrun and the others are surprisingly skilled. We've also just received word that a flight of Moebius IIs are approaching the Gamow."_

" _As much I hate to say it, without any mobile suits to back it up, it's more than likely we'll lose the Gamow,"_ Adas said with a grim expression.

Miguel grumbled at the sound logic. "...so what do you want me to do?"

" _According to Dearka, one of the Astros is bombarding them with an Anti-Ship rifle. Between that, the other Astros, the Strike, and the Legged Ship, it's only a matter of time before our team is shot down."_ Rau explained. " _Your job is to provide them an opening by attacking the sniper unit."_

"Roger that, sir." The blond green-coat replied, changing course and blasting ahead.

As this was going on, Veronica was in the midst of a firefight with the Duel. The Buster had managed to shoot down one of the Astros while the Blitz killed the other pilot with its Lancer Darts. Now it was just her, Gail, the Strike, and the Archangel against the four G-Weapons. Thankfully, it seemed the Aegis' pilot was hesitant to go all out, at least against the Strike.

" _Hold still, you Natural piece of shit!"_ Yzak shouted as he ignited one of the Duel's red beam sabers and charged. Veronica dodged.

"You're in no position to insult me!" The black-haired pilot exclaimed as she opened fire again, this time managing to shoot one of the Duel's eye sensors out. "We're not the ones who attacked a neutral colony!"

" _Oh, don't even act like you have the moral high ground!"_ The silver-haired youth replied as he fired the grenade attached to his beam rifle. Veronica barely blocked it with her left shield. The explosion ripped the shield apart, forcing her to eject it. " _You fuckers turned Heliopolis into a target when you decided to build-SHIT!"_

The Duel and the other stolen G-Weapons were forced to evade again as Erika unleashed another bombardment round. Using this chance, Veronica decided to close in and empty her clips. The Duel blocked the shots in order to preserve its battery power, but then the Minuteman Astro tossed the machine guns at the Duel before opening fire with its CIWS.

The resulting twin explosions were enough of a distraction for Veronica. Quickly, she grabbed both of her heat knives and blasted ahead with right shield and knife forward.

Yzak saw this and realized he had no time to shoot his foe down. In an act of desperation, he activated his right beam saber, draining the Duel to the point of turning off its Phase Shift Armor. With a yell, he deflected the right heat knife with his shield and sliced the Astro's right arm off. But that was exactly what Veronica was hoping for.

With a yell of her own, the brown-haired lieutenant thrust her left arm forward, aimed right at the cockpit area. And with no Phase Shift Armor to protect it, the heat knife cut right through the hatch, instantly killing the silver-haired pilot.

" _YZAK!"_ Dearka shouted in anguish over the loss of his teammate. However, he wasn't even allowed to grieve as the Buster was rocked by another long-range barrage.

In the cockpit of her machine, Veronica was breathing heavily. It really had been awhile since she last brushed with death. "Hendrickson to all points; X-102 Duel has been neutralized."

A good distance away, Erika nodded in approval as she reloaded Nicky. "Good on ya, Ronnie. Now we just gotta sink the rest of the bastards."

" _Lieutenant Hawkins, come in!"_ She suddenly heard over the comms, recognized the voice.

"What is it, Ikari?"

" _There's a ZAFT mobile suit heading towards you at 7 O'Clock! Its the fucking Bullet of Dusk!"_

"You're shitting me!" The blonde woman responded as she turned her Minuteman Astro around. And indeed, the infamous orange GINN was heading towards her. "Bugger this! Ronnie, Gail! My positions' been compromised! The damn Zafties had an ace up their sleeve!"

" _We'll manage!"_ Gail responded as he evaded beam blasts from the Blitz. " _Just shoot that bastard down!"_

"Don't I always?" The dirty blonde replied as she aimed and fired Nicky. Like with the MACs, Miguel was forced to evade the long-distance barrage. But unlike before, the shots were hitting far closer.

'The Commander was right.' Miguel thought as he continued to evade, the next round almost clipping his left arm. 'These guys are pros.'

It was becoming more apparent to the green-coat that with his opponent's near-perfect aim and equipment, he would be unable to close the gap. However, he did make a nice distraction and kept the fire away from the redcoats.

As all of this was going on, the Moebius' were charging towards the Gamow. But the green warship wasn't going to go down without a fight as its cannons and missiles had managed to destroy three of the mobile armors.

'I just need a clear shot!' Ensign Lago thought to herself as she weaved out of the beam and solid ordinance. A few more second of dodged, she found herself aligned with the enemy bridge. 'Paydirt!'

With the pull of a trigger, the Moebius II fired one of its missiles. The warhead then split open into twelve smaller missiles that proceeded to bombard the bridge, effectively lobotomizing the ship.

"Full speed ahead!" Mikeva shouted as she and her squadmates blasted forward. As they flew around the green frigate, they unloaded all of their split missiles and barrages from their rotating Gatling guns. The continual bombardment caused a chain reaction that turned the Gamow into stardust.

" _N-No way,"_ Nicol said in shock, the explosion visible from a distance.

" _This is Moebius team; enemy Laurasia-class has been sunk."_ Ensign Lago reported.

" _Athrun, Dearka, Nicol! We're pulling out!"_ Miguel shouted just as the aforementioned ship fired the retreat flares.

" _Dammit!"_ Dearka shouted as he fired a barrage from his Anti-Armor Shotgun to cause a diversion. The Buster, Blitz, and Aegis blasted away, eventually passing Erika's Minuteman Astro and joining Miguel's GINN in their retreat.

Erika had them in her sights but sighed. It just wasn't in her nature to shoot a retreating opponent.

" _YA! THAT'S WHAT YOU GET!"_ Gail shouted, shooting his machine gun into the air in celebration while Veronica gave a smile and sigh of relief.

It was their first battle since the disaster at Nova. And even though they took some losses, the former members of Mjolnir Squad and the Artemis Defense Forces had won.

 _To be continued…_

 **Author's Note 2: Like I said in the prelude, this ain't the Gundam SEED you know. Yzak's death should be proof enough of that. And before anyone says, "But Yzak should've won! He was piloting a Gundam!", let me make one thing clear; it has been shown all throughout the Gundam Metaseries that if a pilot is skilled enough, they can defeat a Gundam even with a grunt unit. And just because SEED and SEED Destiny made their Gundams overpowered doesn't mean I'm going to.**

 **Unlike Tales of Mjolnir, I'm not going to just stick to the Canon storyline with a few alterations. There are a ton of stories that do just that. And while some canon events will happen, the impetus and results of said events will be vastly different.**

 **I should also probably mention that in this universe, Neutron Jammers don't interfere with long-range communication. It's already pushing suspension of disbelief that these things can stop Nuclear Fission. We don't need to add another feature to them.**

 **But enough babbling here's some specs for the original mobile weapons (and their predecessor) appearing in this chapter;**

 **Mobile Unit: NMS-063 Minuteman**

 **Unit Type: Mass Production General-Purpose Mobile Suit**

 **Power Plant: Ultra-compact Energy Battery**

 **Accommodations: Pilot only, cockpit in torso**

 **Special Equipment and Design Features: Sensors, Clip Points on both sides of the skirt**

 **Fixed Armament: 2x 60mm CIWS, mounted in head; 2x Heat Knives, held in the waist slots**

 **Optional Armament: 90mm Machine Gun, Shield, 360mm Hyper Bazooka, 6-tube Missile Launcher**

 **Technical and Historical Notes: The first mobile suit created by SMRI (Strategic Mobile Research Institute) 'Knight' team. The Minuteman was first rolled out in C.E. 71. Its main weapons are its machine gun, heat knives which can melt through a GINNs shield and the Hyper Bazooka, which fires a rocket that can pierce the armor of most ZAFT mobile suits. This mobile suit has proven itself to be a perfect rival for the ZGMF-1017 GINN.**

 **However, the baseline model didn't last for long, as continual battles ZAFT's environmental mobile suits such as the GINN HM, BuCue and DINN brought to a mind a certain saying; Jack of all Trades, Master of None. As such, all baseline Minutemen units were modified into multiple variations.**

 **Appearance: Based on the RGM-79C GM Type C.**

 **Colors: Silver limbs with a green torso.**

 **Mobile Unit: NMS-063A Minuteman Astro**

 **Unit Type: Mass Production Space-Combat Mobile Suit**

 **Power Plant: Ultra-compact Energy Battery**

 **Accommodations: Pilot only, cockpit in torso**

 **Special Equipment and Design Features: Sensors, Clip Points on both sides of the skirt; Astro Pack (2x Sub-Arms, Thrusters)**

 **Fixed Armament: 2x 60mm CIWS, mounted in head; 2x Heat Knives, held in the waist slots; 2x Beam Knifes (Later Refit), held in the waist slots; 2x Shields, held by Sub-Arms; Type-II Shields, held by Sub-Arms (Later Refit)**

 **Optional Armament: 90mm Machine Gun, 360mm Hyper Bazooka, 6-tube Missile Launcher; 200mm Gatling Cannon; 135mm Anti-Ship Rifle;** **RFW-99 "Zastava Stigmate" Beam Submachine Gun (Later Refit); RFW-76 "Clockwork" Rotatable Grenade Launcher (Later Refit)**

 **Technical and Historical Notes: After the initial deployment of the baseline Minutemen, the SMRI began the 'Variations' refitting, modifying all current units for specific environments and tasks (and mass-producing). The NMS-63A Minuteman Astro is designed specifically for space combat.**

 **The Minuteman Astro takes full-advantage that the vacuum of space provides. Aside from addition verniers on the legs and shoulders, the Astro is also equipped with an Astro Pack. This backpack contains five thrusters and two shield-holding sub-arms, which frees up both hands.**

 **Later, as part of the Beam Refit Project, nearly every Minuteman Astro was retrofitted with Beam Weaponry from the NMS-064 Gundam series.**

 **Appearance: Based on the RGM-79 GM from Gundam Thunderbolt with the Type C head.**

 **Colors: Silver limbs with a Black torso (Green for Mjolnir Squadron).**

 **Mobile Unit: NMS-063AC Minuteman Astro Cannon**

 **Unit Type: Mass Production Space-Combat Artillery Mobile Suit**

 **Power Plant: Ultra-compact Energy Battery**

 **Accommodations: Pilot only, cockpit in torso**

 **Special Equipment and Design Features: Antenna Sensors, Clip Points on both sides of the skirt; Astro Cannon Pack (Sub-Arm, Thrusters)**

 **Fixed Armament: 2x 60mm CIWS, mounted in head; 2x Heat Knives, held in the waist slots; 2x Beam Knifes, held in the waist slots (Later Refit); Shield, held by Sub-Arm; 240mm Rocket Cannon, mounted on Astro Cannon Pack; Type-II Shield, held by Sub-Arm (Later Refit)**

 **Optional Armament: 90mm Machine Gun, 360mm Hyper Bazooka, 6-tube Missile Launcher; 200mm Gatling Cannon;** **RFW-99 "Zastava Stigmate" Beam Submachine Gun (Later Refit); RFW-76 "Clockwork" Rotatable Grenade Launcher (Later Refit)**

 **Technical and Historical Notes: A long-range artillery variation of the Minuteman Astro using data from the CAT-02 Kanone. It replaces one of the sub-arms with a 240mm Rocket Cannon and has antennas for long-range targeting.**

 **Later, as part of the Beam Refit Project, nearly every Minuteman Astro Cannon was retrofitted with Beam Weaponry from the NMS-064 Gundam series.**

 **Appearance: Based on the RGC-80 GM Cannon from Gundam Thunderbolt.**

 **Colors: Silver limbs with a Black torso (Green for Mjolnir Squadron).**

 **Model Unit: TS-MA2 Moebius II**

 **Unit Type: Mass-Produced Space Combat Mobile Armor**

 **Power Plant: Ultra-compact Energy Battery**

 **Equipment and design features: sensors, range unknown, reactive armor, swivel boosters.**

 **Fixed armaments: 2x 40mm Vulcan Guns**

 **Optional Fixed armaments: 70mm Gatling Gun, 4x Split-Missiles, Bunker Buster Tactical Missile, Folding Beam Cannon (Later Refit)**

 **Technical and Historical Notes:** **While the Moebius Zero was a powerful mobile armor in its own right, they lacked the raw firepower needed for fleet battles. As such, Allied Forces High Command ordered SMRI to produce a mass-production mobile armor to supplement their space forces. Using the once-great Moebius units, SMRI analyzed the major problems they had against mobile suits and updated them with modern tech.**

 **The Moebius II is a major improvement from the old Moebius. One new feature is the reactive armor placed on the top of the unit, which can blast away any GINN that tries the old land and shoot maneuver. The second is the rotatable thrusters, allowing the Moebius to make sudden stops and turns similar to the fighters jets of the 21st century. With new weapons such as a folding beam cannon, bunker buster warheads, and split missiles, the Moebius II was one of the units that proved that even with the advent of the mobile suit, mobile armors will always have a place on the battlefield.**

 **Colors: Dark purple**

 **Next Time: A Moment's Respite! Please remember to read, favorite and review!**

 **See ya next time!**


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